Golf club handle



Niki W INVENTOR c. flaw/id;

ATTORNEY Dec. 28, 1937. J. c. BRISICK GOLF CLUB HANDLE Filed July 20, 1933 Patented Dec. 28, 1,937

UNITED STATES- mosses 30 mm 0. British, minim, N. 1.1mm: to The Kroydon Company, a corporation of-New Application J'I'ily 20, 1933. Serial No. mass This invention relates to golf clubs and the like. a v

It is essential in using'a golf club thata firm. and secure grip be had upon it. In order that 8 this may be effected the grip should remain of the same size and shape and should securely adhere to the shaft. If the grip does not remain permanently of the same size and shape, the hands of the player, meeting unaccustomed con- 10 ditions in grasping the grip, will be thrown off in his stroke and hisgame beseriously interfered with. The same is true if the grip is not securely fixed to the shaft. Also the grip should be somewhat cushioning or resilient so as to 16 adapt itself to the hands of the player so that a firm and comfortable grip is secured.

It is also necessary to the best operation that the surface of the grip shall be of material well adapted for contacting with the hands of the so player.

The main object of the invention is to provide improved cooperation of the shaft and handle or grip and at the same time cause the shaft to have the desired qualities.

It has been found that a superior engagement of the material of the grip or handle with the shaft is obtained, and the resiliency improved, if the shaft is made grooved or corrugatedwhere the handle material is moulded upon it and the desired qualities of the shaft may be attained if the grooves extend out from. beneath the handle and partially down the shaft.

It is therefore" a further object of the invention to provide a shaft having a handle moulded thereon, the shaft being corrugated, fluted or grooved beneath the handle material and the corrugations, flutes or grooves extend outside the handle and part way down the shaft.

Other and ancillary objects ,of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a golf club show 4 ing a structure embodying the invention, the grip interior;

Fig. 2 is a view, in side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the upper portion of the shaft of Fig. 1, the lower portion of the shaft (and the head) being broken away, this figure showing one stage of the formation of the improved grip thereon: Fig. 3 is a view 'similar to Fig. 2 but partly in section and showing the grip at another stage of formation; I v

or handle being partly broken away, to show the Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the completed grip embodying the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a section, on an enlarged scale, on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, a tapered, steel, 5 seamless, tubular shaft I .has helically wound upon it, adjacent its upper end, an unvuicanized= gum rubber strip 2, the rubber ofthe strip having a specific gravity of between .90 and 1.0. I floating in water. In the upper end of the shaft 10 is tightly inserted the usual wooden plug 3 for securing the end cap. The rubber covered portion of the shaft is then placed in a two-part mould when the rubber is moulded and vulcanized upon the shaft by heat and pressure, into a re- 15 silient integral body 4 as shown in Fig. 3. The moulding and vulcanizing is done by placing the mould in a hydraulic press and accomplishes the moulding and vulcanizing at a pressure which may be approximately 800 lbs. per square inch and at a. temperature which may be approximately- 310 F., the rubber being subjected to this temperature and pressure for a period of about 10. minutes. While the pressure, temperature and period mentioned have given satisfactory 25 results, the vulcanizing and moulding operation might be satisfactorily carried out by varying any one or all of them as would be understood by those skilled in the art."

The moulding and vulcanization of the rubso her upon the shaft having been accomplished, the rubber is then covered by a helically wound wrapping 5 of calfskin leather treated in the usual manner of treating leather golf club wrappln s to produce tack and absorb moisture and perspiration of the hands. If the leather wrapping were omitted the perspiration of the hands coming against the rubber, which will not absorb it, would cause the gripping surface to become slippery and the player to loose his grip thereon. 40 The-leather wrapping strip is' applied to the grip by helically winding it as is usual in applying such strips to golf handle grips, having its ends secured by gluing. The upper end is also secured by being gripped by the end cap 6 which 45 is screwed or glued upon the wooden plug 3. The lower end of the leather wrapping may be also secured and a finish for the end of the grip is provided by means of the usual whipping of thread or by a pyroxylin ring. I moulded tightly 50 thereon. 1

It will thus be seen that in the completed grip the vulcanized moulded rubber body 4 is integral and will retain its shape and size permanently and provides a resilient cushion whereby the grip adapts itself to the hands of the player, aifording a secure grip, and also provides a cushion absorbing shocks which otherwise would be transmitted from the shaft to the hands of the player, that this resilient cushioning means is securely attached to the shaft bythe vuicanizing operation: and that a suitable hand engaging surface, which does not become slippery by perspiration as would the rubber, is provided by the leather wr ppin The shaft 8 (see Fig. 1) may be of a uniform or continuous taper throughout or it may taper downwardly from the handle end to a waist at I whence it is reversely tapered so as to increase in diameter up to the end 9 of the hosel ll of the iron head H. From the section 8 the shaft may again reverse its taper becoming smaller in diameter as it proceeds into the hosel ll into which it fits and is secured.

The seamless, tubular steel shaft I is fluted or corrugated where the grip is applied to it, and the fluting may extend outside the grip to any desired extent preferably part way down the shaft as shown. In the completed grip as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and wherein the corrugated shaft I has moulded and vulcanized upon it the integral resilient rubber body 4 and about which is helically wound the leather strip 5 constituting the outer hand engaging wrapping of the grip. In the vulcanizing and moulding of the rubber upon the corrugated shaft, the rubber will be brought into engagement with'the corrugations so asjto be securely held against relative rotation thereon and a superior resiliency and securing of the grip to the shaft will be thereby obtained;

It will be observed that the iiuting or grooving of the shaft under the handle in Figs. 1 and 5 receives the handle structure so that such structure is securely interlocked with the shaft and that the grooves or fluting extend outside of the handle but for a portion only of the length of fere with the flexibility or whip at the smaller diameters of the shaft, and such interference is avoided by causing the 'flutes, although extending outside the handle, to extend only part way down the shaft. a

While the invention has been illustrated in what is considered its best application it may have other embodiments without departing from its spirit and is not therefore limited to, the structures shown in the drawing.

What 1 claim is: r The combination with a metal shaft for golf clubs and the like, of a handle or grip for the same, such shaft being longitudinally grooved beneath said handle and receiving the handle structure in the said grooveor grooves of said shaft, said groove or grooves extending outside said handle but for a part only of the length of the shaft.

JOSEPH c. ,BRISICK. 

